1. Introduction.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any such information is prior art, or relevant, to the presently claimed inventions, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
2. Background.
The ability to detect chemicals or biological materials in an environment is critically important in many contexts. For example, the detection of potential toxic chemicals in a home, place of business, industrial facility, or surrounding communities can prevent deaths, injuries, health problems in the event of accidents, fires, etc. The detection of unwanted chemicals or poisons in drinking water can alert users of the need to filter, purify, or treat the water before using to avoid adverse health consequences. It can also alert the water supplier of possible problems at the source or in the distribution system. Similarly, the detection of potentially harmful chemicals in lakes and other bodies of water can alert authorities to provide warnings to avoid consumption of fish and other fauna taken from the contaminated water source.
Further, the detection of chemicals and biological materials associated with explosives and chemical and biological warfare agents may be crucial in preventing acts of terrorism. Early detection of tell tale chemicals or biological materials can provide the opportunity to warn the public and, if warranted, allow evacuation of at risk areas and populations.
The accurate detection of certain chemicals is also important in many industrial settings. For example, many products and components, such as computer chips and certain medical devices, must be manufactured in environments free from contaminants. The ability to detect contaminants in such environments can improve product quality, reduce losses attributable to fouled products, etc.
Moreover, the detection of certain chemicals and molecules in biological fluids is important for both diagnostic and therapeutic reasons.
Conventional sensors typically have employed sensor arrays that use heated metal oxide thin film resistors, polymer sorption layers on the surfaces of acoustic wave resonators, arrays of electrochemical detectors, and conductive polymers to detect specific target analytes in various fluids, including those in vapors, gases, and liquids. Clearly, however, a need still exists for alternative sensing technologies, particularly those that enable fast, inexpensive, efficient, and sensitive detection of one, several, or many different chemical and/or biological entities.
3. Definitions.
When used in this specification, the following terms will be defined as provided below unless otherwise stated. All other terminology used herein will be defined with respect to its usage in the particular art to which it pertains unless otherwise noted.
A “patentable” composition, process, machine, or article of manufacture according to the invention means that the subject matter satisfies all statutory requirements for patentability at the time the analysis is performed. For example, with regard to novelty, non-obviousness, or the like, if later investigation reveals that one or more claims encompass one or more embodiments that would negate novelty, non-obviousness, etc., the claim(s), being limited by definition to “patentable” embodiments, specifically exclude the unpatentable embodiment(s). Also, the claims appended hereto are to be interpreted both to provide the broadest reasonable scope, as well as to preserve their validity. Furthermore, if one or more of the statutory requirements for patentability are amended or if the standards change for assessing whether a particular statutory requirement for patentability is satisfied from the time this application is filed or issues as a patent to a time the validity of one or more of the appended claims is questioned, the claims are to be interpreted in a way that (1) preserves their validity and (2) provides the broadest reasonable interpretation under the circumstances.
A “plurality” means more than one.
The term “species” is used in various contexts, e.g., a particular compound species and cells from a particular species (e.g., mouse, human, etc.). In the context of compounds, the term refers to a population of chemically indistinct molecules of the sort referred to. For example, a “small molecule species” is a population of small molecules identified by the same chemical formula.